Let Children Teach Us

‘If you can dream it, you can do it.’

-Walt Disney

‘It never occurred to me that I couldn’t do it.  I always knew that if I worked hard enough, I could.’

-Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics

‘You see things; and you say Why?  But I dream things that never were; and I say Why not?

-George Bernard Shaw

‘Imagination is more important than knowledge.  Knowledge is limited.  Imagination encircles the world.’

-Albert Einstein

Watch young children play for a few minutes and you will be amazed by all of the ways they use their imagination.  Whether it is putting some lego blocks together into a new structure, or two friends playing a make believe game and running around outside, children are constantly using their imagination.  They are always trying new games and activities without hesitation.

Ask a young child about what they want to be when they grow up, and watch them light up and tell you with certainty all of the things they will be and do.  A princess, a dancer, a basketball player, a singer, you name it they can picture themselves as that dream.  They believe that they can do anything!!  I can’t help but smile just thinking about the enthusiasm and resounding belief that children have in the dreams. 

When did it stop?  When did you stop believing that you can do anything?  When do you stop using your imagination?  When did you stop dreaming?

At some point, we all let outside influences put limits on our dreams.  Break out of those limits.  Highly successful people like the group that supplied the quotes at the top of this article do not have limits, why should you?  If there is something that you desire or if there is something you want to be when you grow up, get started on it now.  Don’t allow yourself to come up with excuses and rationalize why your dream is no longer practical.  Keep your dream alive. 

We tell our children that they can be and do anything they put their mind to when they grow up, why can’t we?

Kyle C. Ryan